It’s quite surprising really that there haven’t been that many major movies about climbing Everest, presumably because of the technical challenges it would cause. However Doug Liman (Mr & Mrs Smith) doesn’t care about that, as Deadline reports that he has signed on to direct Everest, which will be based on Jeffrey Archer’s book, Paths of Glory.
Sheldon Turner (Up In The Air) is adapting the book, which centres on George Mallory, who tried to be the first man to scale Mount Everest in the 1920s. Mallory was obsessed with the mountain, which led to a huge rivalry with fellow climber George Finch. After two attempts which fell short in 1921 and 1922, George Mallory and his climbing partner, Sandy Irvine, were last spotted near the top of Mount Everest on their last attempt in 1924, before they disappeared. George Mallory’s remains were discovered by climber Conrad Anker in 1999 (was chronicled in the 2010 documentary The Wildest Dream), but it isn’t known whether Mallory actually made it to the peak or not.
Doug Liman, who himself is an avid climber, will supervise Sheldon Turner’s next draft of the script. Everest is said to be a top priority at Sony Pictures, although it isn’t clear when production may start.